Dad, We Meet Again?
Dad, We Meet Again is the sixteenth episode of Gundam Build Fighters . Synopsis This is a moment of relaxation, but Sei is focused on improving the Star Build Strike. When Sei refuses to let him help with the work, Reiji heads into town to prove that he too can build Gunpla. As Reiji picks through the Gunpla in a hobby store, a bearded man greets him. The man also drags in Aila, who happens to be passing by, and forcibly subjects them to a Gunpla lecture. Though his teaching methods are Spartan, the Gunpla they build following his advice is better than anyone would have expected. Reiji promptly takes his assembled Gunpla into battle, but the Gunpla that appears as his opponent looks just like a customized Gunpla that previously attacked him and Sei! Plot The episode begins with a dream sequence where Sei's father returns. After waking up, he resumes repairing the heavily damaged Star Build Strike after their battle with Fellini. Reiji attempts to help, causing a small struggle which ends with the Build Strike's head falling off and hitting he floor. After this occurs, Sei tells Reiji to leave him alone. After Ral and China arrive, they talk, in which Ral says that this is a good thing due to Reiji being interested in Gunpla building. A television screen is then shown, in which Kirara interviews Rainer Cziommer, ending with Kirara attacking Rainer after he insults Fellini. Following this the viewer sees Rinko Iori humming while packing up to leave to see the city. She then closes the shop, before dashing off. Aila is then seen at the mall eating ice cream. She then notices Reiji heading toward the hobby shop and follows him. Reiji is then seen in the shop looking at different types of Zakus. A bearded stranger then appears, saying that he noticed that this was Reiji's first time buying Gunpla. After the bearded stranger greets Reiji, he then proceeds to pick out the GPB-X80 Beginning Gundam for Reiji, launching into a monologue revealing all the details of the MS in a similar way Sei pored over the XXXG-01W Wing Gundam in the first episode of the series. He then notices Aila hiding behind a shelf chooses the SDV-04 Command Gundam for her. The bearded stranger then puts them through a thorough Gunpla assembly, in which he begins a soldier-like personality, insisting that both Reiji and Aila refer to him as sir. The stranger then begins the assembly process, which begins with Aila doing it properly while Reiji makes a few mistakes like putting parts together without polycaps, putting stickers on wrong, and attempting to cut the parts from the sprue frame as close to the parts as possible, just to name a few. The scene then shows Chairman Mashita about to leave, and tells Baker to find another plan to eliminate the Build Strike. Niels is then seen hiding behind a tree, and notices Baker talking on the phone with C. Back at the store, Aila and Reiji are gazing at their newly assembled Gunpla. The bearded stranger then tells them that they are about to do the final touch-up. At the hotel room, China offers to stay at the hotel room to help repair the Build Strike, upon which both China and Sei become extremely embarassed. Ral says he'll take China home, upon which Sei thanks Ral, bowing, and spills his drink on the floor. After the touch up at the shop is finished, the bearded man then tells them that the store had a Gunpla Battle System after Reiji said that he wanted to test his machine out. Reiji asks Aila if she can battle, upon which Aila lies, saying that she had never battled before.The bearded stranger then tells them that the system had a Gunpla to battle against. Reiji then uses his machine to great effect, upon which the bearded man says that if you assembled your Gunpla yourself, it's easier to master. Upon meeting the opponent, all three of the characters notice that the system Gunpla, presumably supposed to be a Mock, has been replaced with C's Hell Zeong Galaxy. The Zeong then fires multiple beams at the Beginning Gundam, damaging it slightly. Reiji then becomes angry because of the effort he put into building the model, and then realizes that this probably is what Sei felt like after every battle. The bearded stranger tells Reiji to attack the Zeong head on, in a similar way to the way Amuro Ray defeated Char's Zeong. Reji attempts this, and gets caught by the Zeong's legs. Aila then joins the battle, launching her missiles at the Zeong to free Reiji and disable the Zeong, before disengaging them and initiating a melee pinch attack against the Zeong with Reiji, destroying it. After the battle system turns off, the two find that the bearded stranger has disappeared. C is then seen in a bathroom stall with the door closed, which he promptly opens, revealing the bearded stranger behind it, saying that he knew what happened the moment he saw the customized Zeong, then revealing himself as Takeshi Iori, Sei's father and an Official Gunpla Battle Referee. He then apprehends C for 36 crimes, upoh which Takeshi says, "Don't use Gunpla for foolish things." After Reiji gets back to the hotel room, he shows Ral, China, and Sei his Beginning Gundam, upon which they comment about the quality. Sei then asks Reiji if he built the Gunpla himself, whereupon Reiji tells Sei that he had some help and shows him the nippers he got from Takeshi, which Sei immediately recognizes. Later, Takeshi is shown to be standing in front of the shop wondering why it is closed, and also calling for Rinko, using "Rinny" as a pet name. = Featured Mobile Weapons Main *GAT-X105B/ST Star Build Strike Gundam *Hell Zeong Galaxy Others *GPB-X80 Beginning Gundam *SDV-04 (SDV-04G) Command Gundam Trivia *Sei's dream sequence with Takeshi references episode 33 of Mobile Suit Gundam, where Amuro Ray reunited with his father Tem Ray, as the shop in the sequence is identical to the one Tem was living in. Sei and Takeshi fly off into a constellation of the RX-78-2 Gundam's face based on the iconic Mobile Suit Gundam promotional poster. *Chairman Mashita's gold limousine is the same as Dorothy Catalonia's from New Mobile Report Gundam Wing. *While packing up to meet up with Sei and Reiji, Rinko hums "INVOKE", the first opening theme of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, this is not present in the English dub. *In Rinko's daydream sequence, the reporters are lookalikes for those from various Gundam series, including Fran Doll, Kinue Crossroad and Ikeda. *A Fa Yuiry lookalike passes by as Aila eats her ice cream. *When Takeshi confronts C, he references Cutie Honey before removing his disguise. **Also, when meeting Reiji for the first time, he refers to himself as "Just a passing through Gunpla fan", a reference to Kamen Rider Decade's catchphrase. *The next episode preview tagline ("Ready? Go!") once again echoes the catchphrase of Mobile Fighter G Gundam ("Gundam fight! Ready? Go!").